Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Ritz Might Be Done

The NDP is calling for Ritz to resign, so too Wayne Easter, but it's more the reaction that suggests this one has serious legs. You really should listen to Bob Fife on this clip, because if he's outraged and looking for blood, it means the entire media agrees on the seriousness. We already know what tomorrow's theme will be, you can't contain and micro-manage this one Mr. Harper.

The sad part, it will take something this sensational to get the focus back on the listeria question, and just maybe today's relevant news might get woven into the controversy. You needed some color, now you have HD, the Conservatives are in full damage control now. The opposition will devour this story, it speaks to the Conservative approach on so many levels, nastiness is back, the whole issue re-visited.

Particularly bad in Ontario, where we see another sliver of evidence that things have already started to shift, real damage if we have the rest week rehashing listeria, the government role, their Minister laughing off people dying.

I'm not sure Ritz can survive, either way, this is more than a blip on the campaign trail. This one hurts.

It's an indictment of the entire Con brand. Voters need to start realizing that they are not voting for a president, but for a party.

Off topic, but I have been playing around with seat projections on one of those websites and it will be very difficult for the Libs to Turnerize themselves. In fact, if the Cons finish around 35-36% and the Libs finish around 31-32% you could have a Lib minority or a tie. The Cons will have to finish around 40% and the Dips have to finish around 20% for the Cons to obtain a majority, with a slight dip from the Bloc.

With the polls the way they are now, you will end up with a status quo election. Not great news, but hardly the doom and gloom you are hearing.

The sad thing is that BC-Global didn't even cover the listeria story, never mind Ritz' crack. Instead, they had time for a warm little 'Is Harper sexy?' science-fiction tale.Sigh. That doggone left-wing liberal media forgets its creds again...